NYC04FA036 · Beech J35
Mock Air Beech J35 · Accident: total loss of engine power (non-mechanical) during initial climb
From Lake Cumberland Regional Airport (SME) to Blue Grass Airport (LEX)
Event
- NTSB case
- NYC04FA036
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Beech J35
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 35
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N748CH
- Operator
- Mock Air
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Lake Cumberland Regional Airport (SME), Somerset, KYTo Blue Grass Airport (LEX), Lexington, KY
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Initial climb
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Total loss of engine power (non-mechanical)
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Reason for occurrence undetermined
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
During takeoff and initial climb, the engine "missed" six times. The airplane entered a left turn toward the airport, but the engine lost all power. The airplane subsequently struck trees and impacted a field about 1/2 mile north of the airport. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the fuel selector was positioned between "LH TANK" and "OFF;" however, the pre-impact position of the fuel selector could not be verified. Review of the airplane maintenance records revealed that after several reports of engine power losses during landing rolls, the fuel system was replaced about 5 months prior to the accident. A fuel leak was discovered and corrected shortly after the replacement. Following the correction, the airplane flew approximately 14 hours during the 5-month period, with no known discrepancies regarding the engine. After the accident, several components on the engine were replaced or repaired due to impact damage, and a successful test run of the engine was completed. Toxicological testing for the pilot in command revealed the presence of doxylamine, a sedating over-the-counter antihistamine commonly found in multi-symptom cold relievers such as NyQuil, and sleep aids such as Unisom. The level of doxylamine was consistent with ingestion of the maximum single over-the-counter dose of a sleep aid within a few hours prior to the accident. Post-accident interviews with the pilot's wife revealed that he was suffering from common cold symptoms such as coughing and congestion. The pilot was treating the cold with NyQuil at night, and non-drowsy Sudafed during the day.
Probable cause
A total loss of engine power during takeoff for undetermined reasons. A factor was the impairment of the pilot in command due to an over-the-counter antihistamine.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record NYC04FA036
- Event ID
- 20031125X01946
- Case number
- NYC04FA036
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: db5dc80a21fcb6b03cd87cd812fa68e3a12fb1d04e84ecbcab9ce9ca73cd2b38; retrieved 2026-09-20T18:46:49.734Z.